The more I recall the image, the clearer it becomes that what I see in my son's smile is more than just unadulterated devilish fun. What I see in his 3 year old face is the rudimentary fulfillment of a man's need to be lord over his environment. It is an expression that is way too uncommon on the faces of men in our society.
Men, we need to pee in the woods more often! As those who are called by the Most High to exercise dominion over this world, we must embrace those things that set us apart from our female counterparts. We should not allow our fallen society to dictate how we should behave as men when the word of God is clear on the matter. We are providers, protectors, and the ministers of our families. That is who we were created to be. In the absence of the fulfillment of our God given roles, the enemy has provided substitutes to placate our God given sense of manhood.
Satan is a liar, and he is the lord of this world. He knows enough about us to use our falleness (of which he is the engineer) to manipulate our behavior and beliefs. Even those among us who are Christians are not immune to his tricks. Satan's major tool is our own sinful pride. For men, it is the proverbial 'ego'. Our overinflated, overvalued sense of self.
One way in which the enemy uses pride to kill his enemy, (If you think our sin is not death; read James 1:15) is through perpetrating the myth that there is strength in lying and denial. What that liar does is take the true premise that men are the stronger sex and twist it. He doesn't deny the truth because even as dumb as we are we would not believe such a blatant lie. He takes one aspect and perverts it. In this case; I am referring to the idea that strength is somehow related to the ignoring and denying of pain. You see, he hasn't changed the truth, he has manipulated our definition of the truth to fit his needs. So now, men see crying, or admission of pain as weakness; so we don't do it. We also teach our male children not to do it. But what happens when we do feel pain? We run!!!! We run so we don't have to suffer the blow to our pride that accompanies an admission of pain. The second we cannot handle something we move away from it. By not embracing the pain we never learn how to pray through it. So through our own definition of strength we are made weak.
Look at the implications! When men run, women and children suffer. Communities falter. Wars are lost. The man, who is the barrier between Satan and the family, is no longer present to do his job. Let your imagination run wild with that thought. I know what this sounds like; but look around you?
